A Tale of Two Galaxies
by DevilGearEffect
Summary: The new intergalactic government sends their newest vessel to enter an unexplored mass relay in search of much needed resources. They assign Garrus Vakarian as it's Commander, as well as some of his old allies to serve on the ship. Some of them are still haunted by the war. Post-ME3. Strong language.
1. A New Adventure

**A/N A continuation from ME3. Destroy ending. Tali and Shepard were together in the war. Shepard was a he, and he was a paragon and war hero. He's the sign of intergalactic cooperation and heroism, the pinnacle for all races to follow. In this chapter, there's only some strong language, so the rating's pretty low. In future chapters, there'll be suggestive themes and violence. So the rating will probably boost to an M. **

After the destruction of all synthetic life forms, the galaxy realised that not only was the Council a failed attempt at governing, but that they needed to take the risk of exploring the uncharted Mass Relays to scavenge supplies from places they'd never been.

The Allied Races Government was formed, between all space-faring species, in honour of Commander Shepard, who had proved that they could work in unity. They rule the galaxy through diplomacy, with six members of each species having a seat in every debate and a say in every law passed.

In this same spirit of unity between all races, the _ARGS Shepard_ was built, to serve as their flagship. Some former squad and crew members from the Normandy - the current flagpole for interspecies co-operation - were reassigned, with the addition of crew members from other races. In times of battle and conflict, the crew all answer to one Commander. But a group of diplomats representing the other races present on the ship advise and counsel him, each chosen by the crew.

They lead the expedition to a newly discovered relay, on the very tip of the galaxy.

* * *

"Okay, everyone. We should be passing through the relay in: Three. Two. One," Joker announced through the comms. The familiar pull dragged on the ship and after a moment, the relay shot them forward.

The dual-toned voice of Commander Vakarian spoke out from the comms, "Diplomats, make your way to the CIC in preparation for what we find."

A second voice murmured from his end.

"Yes, Jack, that includes you. My orders," he replied, his smug glee at ordering around the "psychotic biotic" barely repressed. "Wait, is this damn thing still on?"

The comms line cut off and the man sat next to Joker shook his head. _God damn it, does it hurt the guy to smile once in a while? _

Tebian, his batarian co-pilot, glanced over. "How do you think she ever got to be a diplomat for the ship, anyway?" he asked.

"The same way as every other species' diplomat. She was voted in," he replied cooly. _Not another argument._

"Come on . . . it had to be rigged, or Vakarian called in some favours or something. She's crazy," the co-pilot scoffed.

He grit his teeth. "She's not crazy. And she's a damn good diplomat. Granted, that's because if you try to argue with her she smashes you into a wall, but if something works . . .."

"Don't try to fix it," Tebian finished, scratching his neck. He looked over as if to continue the conversation, but merely paused and returned to watching the deep black in front of them.

* * *

The CIC had been cleared of non-essential personnel prior to the jump. The large room, lined with monitors and centred with a galaxy map, now stood empty, except for fourteen people of varying races.

The seven diplomats stood gathered around the galaxy map.

"As you know, we've made it through the relay without any problems. Everything's quiet so far, but I've located a nearby planet," Eshorla Linon informed them, bringing up a scan of the nearby planet.

Eshorla was the elected salarian diplomat. Not surprising, due to her skill with communications and information technology; and being one of the rare females to ever leave the salarian colonies. Even rarer after the war.

"Now, obviously, we haven't been able to do any definitive scans from a single ship, but it does appear to have a settlement here." Her small hand motioned to a red blip on the map.

It flashed every few seconds, breaking the silence that had fell upon them. Her large eyes flashed between them. "Well? What're you all thinking?" she rushed, like any salarian, she'd already came to hundreds of possibilities.

"I'm thinking, we should send a small scouting party to evaluate the situation," the drell diplomat, Adaril Mende, suggested. "We can't send too many people, especially if we have just discovered a new race."

"So we should let our guard down in front of a potentially hostile race?" growled the krogan diplomat, Urdnot Jorag. "We should land the _Shepard_ somewhere well populated and let them see how well armed we are."

"And provoke hostilities?" Tali'Zorah interrupted. She'd always wanted a place on her homeworld, but the lover of Commander Shepard had always had his exact same problem: she was always volunteering for new ways to find trouble. Hence, how she now found herself aboard the _Shepard_.

"We'll be asking to get fucked over if we appear weak," Jack warned. "You can appear strong without being threatening, y'know."

"For once, I agree with the criminal," Alyana T'Sini said. The asari diplomat had pertained issues over Jack's sense of attitude and dress sense since they first met. It didn't help that she was supposed to be representing every human on the ship. "We need to earn respect, not fear."

"Criminal?" the tattooed human growled. "Says the race who hid a prothean beacon that could've enhanced the entire galaxy, but instead used it to make themselves the most fucking superior race."

"Enough," Commander Vakarian growled, slamming his fist off the table. _Yup. Always with the theatrics, Garrus. Nice. _"We'll land near the settlement. Close enough that we don't look like we're spying on them, and far enough to have warning if they attack. I'll lead in Tali, Jack and Jorag. Anyone got any issues with that plan?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Then it's decided, suit up you three," he ordered. _Me. Ordering the flagship of the entire galaxy. If only Shepard could see this . . . he'd probably make a damned comment about me missing out on calibrations. _He turned and headed to the cockpit, ignoring the undoubtedly criticising comments being levelled his way from the asari diplomat.

"Joker, you catch that?" he asked.

"Sure did, Commander. Heading towards the settlement now. You sure you've got control over those guys? Sounds like a powder keg getting ready to blow."

"And that doesn't remind you of a certain team who fought the Collectors a few years ago?"

"Ha. Fair point."

The Commander walked back out to the CIC, now flooding with ensigns of multiple species, and headed into one of the two elevators. He clicked the holo for the Armoury and it smoothly descended.

* * *

Jack loaded a heat sink into her Scimitar, weighing it in her hand. _Damn, it's good to feel you in my hand, baby. Been way too long. _

She looked over at Jorag and Vega, who ran the ship's armoury. He'd been relegated to this duty ever since an injury he sustained during the Battle of London. He was lucky. A lot didn't even make it out alive. _All he got was a fucking scar and a ban from field missions._

Tali sat next to her and she stiffened.

"Hey, Jennifer," Tali said playfully, prodding the biotic in the arm.

Jack glared at her. "Have you been drinking vodka through your 'induction port' again?" she asked.

"What? No. I was trying to start a conversation."

"Oh. Well, it sucked," she growled.

"It's good to see you too, Jack, just like old times," the quarian mumbled. She tapped her fingers against each other, and whistled a tune.

Garrus arrived just in time to stop the next in Jack's infamous string of crimes. He grabbed a Viper from Vega after the two shared a few dude-bro words, which caused Jack to roll her dull brown eyes.

"Is the Kodiak ready?" Garrus asked Tali, who nodded.

"Yep. We can go."

"Then let's see what's out there," he said with that infuriating grin of his.

_If I don't get laid by some alien dude, I swear I'm going to kill someone. _

"Commander, there's an issue," Eshorla announced over the comms.

"What is it?"

"The Reapers have been here, sir. Further scans of the settlement have show it has been decimated. It has to have been them."

"Agreed. They had to have been doing something in the 50'000 years they were away from our races. We couldn't have been the only ones in need of 'harvesting'. Tell Joker not to enter the atmosphere." He sighed, stepping into the Kodiak slowly. "Come on, you three. We may as well check it out anyway."

_Well, I guess someone's dying tonight. _

* * *

The Kodiak's thrusters kept it gliding through the black clouds and torrential rain that lashed around it. The clouds parted as it descended, revealing a destroyed, enormous city. The arched, glass and steel buildings spread like a cobweb over the land. Their glass had been shattered, their metal burnt through and the ground of the city was buried under metres of ash, like a hellish desert.

"I like it," Jorag grunted with a slight nod of approval. "Reminds me of Tuchanka."

"Yeah, shitholes always seem to have that affect on krogans," Jack retorted. _He doesn't have a fucking right to joke about somewhere thosuands, maybe millions, died._

The Kodiak weaved through the curved structures like a dancer through a dead crowd, twisting them past places that most likely looked beautiful before the Reapers had arrived.

"I can't believe we managed to avoid . . . this," Tali whispered.

"Some places didn't," Garrus corrected with an irritated twitch of his mandible.

_'Bout time someone fucking pointed out her race is one of the few that got out of the war relatively unscathed. Their homeworld was barely even touched. _

"Sorry, Garrus," she apologised almost immediately.

"Let's just touch down," he ordered. "There."

Jorag touched the Kodiak down on a small area free of debris, at the foot of one of the arched buildings. They stepped out one-by-one and for the first time ever, Jack regretted leaving a bit of skin on show. The winds were whipping up the ash at a blistering rate, and it was scratching at her like powdered glass. The others must have noticed, because they all sprinted to a ramp that lead underground.

Once they'd took shelter, she glanced at her bare skin. It had been scratched raw. "How the fuck am I supposed to go out in that? I can't just hold up a barrier all day," she moaned.

"I don't think we're supposed to be looking outside," Tali corrected, clearly relieved.

"What's so-" Jack began to demand, spinning round. She stopped at the writing on the wall. An arrow pointed further underground.

_Sanctuary, this way._


	2. Sanctuary

**A/N I'd like reviews for anyone who has feedback, especially in regards to the handling of the characters. **

**When an alien language is spoken in front of people speaking English, it'll be formatted like this: **"[Example]."

**Whenever members of the new race speak to each other, without any English-speakers present, it'll be formatted normally.**

* * *

The Underground Tunnels of a Devastated Planet.

Commander Vakarian lead the way through the dimly lit tunnel, lined with dangling wires and floored by grated panels. He stopped and Jarog growled.

"What is it? That stupid helmet broke your mandible or something?" he asked, the long walk already testing his patience. Too much walking and not enough fighting for his tastes.

"No, we've found . . . whatever it is we're looking for."

The other three caught up with him. "It would explain the door with 'Sanctuary' written on the front," Tali suggested. The plain, heavy, white door had the word burnt into its surface.

"Then let's open the damned thing," the krogan suggested.

Seeing no handle or holo, the Commander walked forward and pushed at it. Nothing happened.

"Wow. Performance issues?" Jarog joked, walking forward and trying himself. His growling intensified and his feet began to slide back. Once again, nothing happened. "Well. I guess it just can't be opened."

"Move outta the way," Jack ordered, rolling her eyes again. "I'll open it."

The other three moved a short distance behind her, their flashlights casting her silhouette on the door. She outstretched her hand behind her and began to gather her biotics. With a roar, she rotated her hips and swung her arm down, the blue waves pummeling into the door.

She looked up. It still stood. "Holy shit, no way," she muttered. Turning to the quarian, she asked, "Any ideas?"

Tali shuffled on the spot a moment, wringing her hands. "Ummm." She walked to the door and coughed, before reaching up and knocking three times. Her shoulders shrugged when she looked back over to them innocently.

Riiikkkt.

A lock had just slid out of place, rusted and stiff. Riiikkkt_. _And again. Riiikkkt_. _Riiikkkt. Riiikkkt_._

"No. Fucking. Way," the human exclaimed, as mild mannered as ever.

The door slid open and a small drone hovered in front of them. It projected forward what looked like an alien head, whose long jaw was moving animatedly. Two of the feeble lights on its rusting, metallic surface flickered.

"I think it wants us to talk," Tali suggested, tilting her head at Garrus.

"Permission granted," he coyly replied.

Her bright eyes narrowed behind the mask. With a sigh, she looked back to the droid. "Um, hello. My name is Tali'Zorah. I'm quarian. I like to . . . um . . . fix things? Who owns you?" she asked, her hands wringing once more.

The head shook and continued to talk silently.

"These other people," she began, motioning to the three of them in turn, "are: Garrus Vakarian, a turian; Jack, a human biotic; and Urdnot Jarog, a krogan. We're here looking for supplies and survivors, have you seen any?"

The head disappeared, the lights on the front of the drone dimming. In a voice near identical to Tali's, it replied, "Hello, Tali'Zorah of the quarians. I am maintenance droid three-two-one-two," it greeted. "Please, come in."

* * *

ARGS Shepard

Joker's eyes drifted open, wandering down the robotic woman laid next to him. She didn't sleep, but she enjoyed pretending with him. Maybe it made her feel more human. He liked to think it was so she could spend more time with him.

He smirked and reached out to touch her, but as his fingers brushed over her shoulder, she twisted into smoke and dispersed along with his bunk. He twisted and turned, descending through the omnipresent darkness. He landed with a crack in the _Normandy SR-2'_s cockpit.

He groaned and lifted to his feet, his leg that had cracked not a moment before suddenly healed. Of course, he didn't notice. Not over the screams and gunfire.

He moved as fast as he safely could along the highlighted path, avoiding the Collectors that swarmed the room. One charged him . . ..

Jeff's eyes snapped open. He tore away his sweat drenched covers and stumbled his way into the nearest shower, letting the cold spray wash down his body. He rested his head on the wall, squeezing his eyelids shut. _She's gone. Stop thinking about it. It won't change anything. _

A few minutes later and his feet were leading him toward the Mess Hall. As he approached the room, loud voices and roars echoing to him, he glimpsed something silver in the corner of his eye. When he turned, nothing could be seen.

He sighed and turned back towards the Mess. Someone barged past as he walked in, sending him flying to the ground.

"God damn it!" he shouted, pain spiking in his back. "Why don't you watch where you're walking, yo-"

Vega had his hand held out, a frown etched into his face. "Sorry, Jeff."

He paused, not sure if the room had actually went silent or whether his temporary flash of rage had blocked it out. He took Vega's hand, allowing himself to be pulled up. "Don't sweat it. I just . . .."

"I know, man. You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. I'll talk to you later." Ignoring the worried and annoyed looks getting sent his way, he crossed over to the Mess Sergeant and ordered his usual.

_It's like they think I don't know why most of them call me Jeff instead of Joker. Even Vega does. I know. It'd be harder not to._

* * *

Sanctuary

The underground caverns stretched wide and long, their gaping jaws hung with burning lanterns like teeth and a metallic, grated tongue. The larger open areas, acting as intersections every mile or two, had been turned into makeshift living areas, full of tents and the aliens milling about their daily business.

"Governess," the man called, sprinting into her chambers. She sat on a simple lay of sheets and covers.

"Yes?" she replied, turning to him slowly.

"The visitors have finally reached us, miss," he rushed out, as if the words would burn his tongue if held.

She smiled. "Good. Bring me to them," she commanded, her deep voice adding a certain gravitas to her presence.

The two paced to the largest cavern in their underground town: it looked almost like a giant stadium, as there were hundreds of circular balconies scaling its tremendous walls. Some people had gathered as word of the visitors spread, but not many.

Her level had an entire balcony to itself, but she was not the sort of leader to distance herself, especially not from visitors.

She stepped out onto the lowest floor, where the aliens stood gathered, talking to their only droid.

They turned as she entered, the bald female's eyebrows rising for a single second before she returned to her perma-scowl. The Governess stood at the same height as the group's largest member. She smiled at them before looking at the droid. "[Come here. Teach me their language]," she commanded.

The droid rested into her palm. She turned its visor away and it began the process. It electrically shocked her while showing her hologramatic recordings of the aliens. Which each minute shock and simultaneous projection, she learnt the way the alien's language worked and the emotions each had been feeling while they'd been monitored.

She wasn't entirely sure how this process worked, her race's last few scientists had died after all, but she was sure it had something to do with triggering specific electrical impulses and brainwaves that imitated the same ones the aliens had during whatever she was being shown and said. Luckily, they'd been monitored for over two hours. It was like a crash course on alien linguistics applied directly to the brain.

"[Tell the humans to follow this guard to the security hub and wait for me there]," she ordered the drone.

It did as she said before she carried it back to her chambers while the aliens were lead away. _With only two thousand of us left, I can't be too safe. I'll tell the aliens anything they wish to know, then they can leave._

* * *

ARGS Shepard Cockpit

Joker dropped into his seat and winced. "Definitely not leather," he groaned.

Tebian looked over at him. "What're you saying?"

"Doesn't matter. Inside joke."

_She would've laughed. Or at least smiled. _

His co-pilot shifted in his seat and scratched at his neck. "Listen, Jeff. I, uh, realise you don't like me a great deal. Trust me, I get that. But surely, talking to me isn't such a crime?"

"Why? You never laugh or smile anyw-"

"I'm batarian, what do you expect? The only times we smile is when our parent's inheritance gets passed down," he interrupted.

Joker grinned but shook it off. He looked over to continue the argument but for the first time since they'd met, Tebian had a grin on his face. Joker raised an eyebrow.

"That was a joke," Tebian informed him.

Joker held back the wince that phrase would've usually gave him.

* * *

Allied Races Government HQ

Urdnot Wrex paced down familiar corridor after familiar corridor, treading the already well worn route. He reached her door and walked in without knocking. _She has to be used to that by now._

"Wrex, just for once, could you knock?" the asari asked, turning round and looking up from the array of monitors in front of her.

"Not a chance, T'Soni," he replied. "Krogans don't knock."

"As you've said repeatedly. What can I help you with?" she said, flicking off the datapad she had held in one hand. _Damn woman never stops. _

"An old friend can't just pop by to chat? What is this place coming to?"

"You never just pop by to chat. Every time it's, 'I need this, I need that, I need you bug him, and bug her," she imitated, shaking her head. "Although I would like it if we did just chat for once."

"Well prepare to be disappointed then. I'm here to talk to you about something important," he admitted, leaning against the wall as a growl crept into his voice.

"What is it?" she asked, already noticing his anger rising. _She never misses a damned thing._

"After Shepard cured the genophage, Admiral Hackett and I talked on a regular basis throughout the war. With us being in charge of our people, it's expected. He expressed some . . . worrying doubts about the salarian's commitment to our deal."

"He thought they were going to reinitiate the genophage after the war?" she asked, placing her datapad back on desk. _Yeah, that got her attention. _

"Exactly. A week after the war and boom, guy's died from a 'heart attack'. It never sat well with me. No way a heart attack took him out, after he got through the entire war just fine. The doctor's say it was the stress, wear and tear."

"But that would've been more likely to happen during the war," she said, echoing his prior thoughts exactly. "What do you want me to do?"

"Just check the damn thing out. I know for a fact he was meeting with at least three of the salarians now in the ARG beforehand. If he voiced his doubts, those slippery bastards wouldn't have hesitated to take him out."

"Well, it's a good thing the two of us get to work with them so often. I promise to do what I can," she said.

"Thanks, T'Soni." He got up to leave but stopped at the door. "Maybe one chat won't hurt."

Liara smiled.

* * *

ARGS Shepard

The Kodiak's thrusters died down as it settled into the landing bay. The Commander didn't wait a moment before stepping off and bringing up his omni-tool. "All diplomats, to the CIC immediately. We have a lot to discuss," he ordered, having returned from a long conversation.

Not ten minutes later and they all stood around the scans of the planet once again. "We've found another race," Jorag told the others bluntly. "They're called tesserians. They're tall, got four arms, tails, and one of them managed to learn English in two hours flat. Some kind of linguistics device by using voice samples and recordings."

"Really?" Eshorla instantly replied. "Impressive."

"Who cares about the technology, what's their resources situation?" Alyana asked.

"Their planet is pretty much spent," Garrus informed her. "They'd mined the hell out of it before the invasion. Hell, that's where the Tesserians are living, in a bunch of mines."

"Why?"

"They were slaves to the planet's inhabitants. When the Reapers attacked, the majority of the inhabitants fled, so the tesserians took some technology and a lot of supplies into the mines so that they could survive." He tilted his head. "Not the best plan ever devised."

"Why didn't the Reapers kill them?"

"I'm not sure and they don't know either. The majority of their race was killed on the surface. There's only two thousand of them left. Apparently, those who went underground were never attacked again," he told her, avoiding eye contact.

"We need to inform the ARG," Adaril suggested. Everyone looked at the drell, whose worn voice easily drowned out the noise of the people working around them. "They may want to integrate them into our government and affairs. I doubt a bunch of slaves will survive long by themselves."

"I'll get in touch now," the Commander decided. "I imagine they'll want to speak to the tesserian leader themselves. Send down some ensigns to pick her up. Dismissed."


End file.
